The rising price of gas/petrol is forcing people to look around for ways of keeping travelling costs down. A number of towns have now started allowing electric golf carts into their streets. In St. Louis for example, Bob Woll says his preferred mod eof transport is his golf cart.
"There's no noise, no checking how much gas you've got. You just get on and go," said Woll, who happens to an alderman in Sesser, Illinois, and was instrumental in passing an ordinance allowing golf carts onto the streets.
Sesser is just one among many towns allowing the non-polluting electric vehicles onto the streets. They are of course cheaper and cleaner than cars and trucks. Bob Woll’s cart is twenty years old and cost him $300 it also goes 20 miles on a 10-hour charge.
Safety is a factor that could limit the vehicle's use with injuries on the rise. There are now 12,000 annually.
Experts say helmets and seat belts would reduce the accident rate.
Twenty-six states in the U.S. allow low-speed electric vehicles on local streets, or have given communities the power to make that decision.
In Circleville, Ohio, carts are now allowed on the streets with a speed limit of 35 mph or less, but they must be titled and insured and require modifications to make them street-legal.
Electric vehicle manufacturer E-Z-GO in Georgia, makes vehicles that look like upmarket golf carts, says that orders are up nearly 30% year on year. New carts with creature comforts such as headlights, tail lights, turn signals etc… cost about $8,000.
Electric models, which travel 40 miles per charge, are more popular than the 30 mpg gas-powered models.
Critters Golf Carts in Woodstock, Illinois, say sales are in overdrive. Shirley Forman normally sells 60 or 70 carts a year, but this year she has already sold 128, which represents around a 300% increase.
In most towns carts are not allowed on sidewalks/pavements and in Sesser the must be covered by liability insurance and pay a $35 fee.
Many states require a valid driver's license.
Accidents are on the increase but fatal golf cart accidents are few and far between.
In Sesser they are considering getting a used golf cart for the water department to use when reading meters.
"This maybe would save us about $600 to $700 a year in fuel just for the water department," Bob Woll said.
So with sales soaring electric golf carts manufacturers could well be a shrewd stockmarket investment, and of course companies that make batteries for electric vehicles.
In the UK where petrol is closer to $12 a gallon than $4, electric golf carts would be even more useful, but so far I haven't seen evidence of an increase in their use, but we generally tend to copy the USA sooner or later.
